Longtime radio personality, emcee Brand dies at 78

Published: Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 3:06 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 3:06 p.m.

For 40 years, Jim Brand was the friendly voice of the Swap Shop on WDVH/WLUS AM 980, helping listeners buy and sell all manner of household items on his Saturday radio show.

He would lend his radio voice to serve as master of ceremonies for Gator Growl in the early 1980s and at concerts for country music stars, beauty pageants and events for schools and the police. For 13 years, he was pronouncer at the Alachua County Spelling Bee.

Brand died Saturday at 78 after battling cancer, six months after ending his nearly 60-year radio career.

Daryl Tooley, who worked at WDVH in the 1980s and has an advertising company in Gainesville, said Brand mentored a lot of University of Florida journalism students who have gone on to successful careers.

"He touched people inside and outside of broadcasting in quite a wonderful way," he said.

Current program director Kevin Mangan said Brand taught him a lot in their five years together.

"He instilled in me commitment and involvement in the community and how to relate to listeners," he said.

Brand would research other people's interests so he could relate to them, Mangan said.

"That's why he always had that rapport," he said. "To this day, people call and want to know how he's doing. We got a plethora of get-well cards when he got sick."

Brand started his radio career while in college at Southern Methodist University and continued full-time after leaving the U.S. Air Force in 1957, serving as announcer and program director at stations in Texas, Colorado, Kentucky, Virginia, Boston and New Jersey.

In 1970, he was hired as program director at WDVH by Larry Edwards and oversaw the station's transition from rock to country. He would remain through most format and ownership changes, with a couple stints in Tampa.

Jinx Miller, then Jinx McCall, worked with Brand for nearly 20 years as copywriter, bookkeeper, controller, host of a bluegrass show and female voice on commercials and remotes before moving to Boone, N.C., in 1989.

"JB was my buddy," she said. "We were very close friends as we went through the ups and downs of that family community radio station."

Back then, radio announcers were "quasi-celebrities," Miller said. "Everyone who heard him on the air thought of him as a friend."

Tooley said at one time WDVH had 27 percent market share and a "cracker jack news department."

Brand oversaw six deejays and a news department of seven.

Brand hosted Swap Shop starting in 1971, expanding the show from 15 minutes to four hours on Saturdays as callers traded their wares.

"Anything from goats and chickens to grand pianos, paintings, cars — all sorts of stuff," said Mangan, who recalled that someone even tried to sell a traffic light that had fallen during a hurricane.

Following the station's transition from classic country to talk in October 2011, Brand hosted Swap Shop daily for two hours until his retirement in May. The show is still on as a four-hour Saturday program hosted by Ray Starr.

Brand was active in Elks Lodge #990. He is survived by his mother, Dorothy Brand, of Independence, Mo.; companion Sally Crews and her son, Byron Crews.

<p>For 40 years, Jim Brand was the friendly voice of the Swap Shop on WDVH/WLUS AM 980, helping listeners buy and sell all manner of household items on his Saturday radio show.</p><p>He would lend his radio voice to serve as master of ceremonies for Gator Growl in the early 1980s and at concerts for country music stars, beauty pageants and events for schools and the police. For 13 years, he was pronouncer at the Alachua County Spelling Bee.</p><p>Brand died Saturday at 78 after battling cancer, six months after ending his nearly 60-year radio career.</p><p>Daryl Tooley, who worked at WDVH in the 1980s and has an advertising company in Gainesville, said Brand mentored a lot of University of Florida journalism students who have gone on to successful careers.</p><p>"He touched people inside and outside of broadcasting in quite a wonderful way," he said.</p><p>Current program director Kevin Mangan said Brand taught him a lot in their five years together.</p><p>"He instilled in me commitment and involvement in the community and how to relate to listeners," he said.</p><p>Brand would research other people's interests so he could relate to them, Mangan said.</p><p>"That's why he always had that rapport," he said. "To this day, people call and want to know how he's doing. We got a plethora of get-well cards when he got sick."</p><p>Brand started his radio career while in college at Southern Methodist University and continued full-time after leaving the U.S. Air Force in 1957, serving as announcer and program director at stations in Texas, Colorado, Kentucky, Virginia, Boston and New Jersey.</p><p>In 1970, he was hired as program director at WDVH by Larry Edwards and oversaw the station's transition from rock to country. He would remain through most format and ownership changes, with a couple stints in Tampa.</p><p>Jinx Miller, then Jinx McCall, worked with Brand for nearly 20 years as copywriter, bookkeeper, controller, host of a bluegrass show and female voice on commercials and remotes before moving to Boone, N.C., in 1989.</p><p>"JB was my buddy," she said. "We were very close friends as we went through the ups and downs of that family community radio station."</p><p>Back then, radio announcers were "quasi-celebrities," Miller said. "Everyone who heard him on the air thought of him as a friend."</p><p>Tooley said at one time WDVH had 27 percent market share and a "cracker jack news department."</p><p>Brand oversaw six deejays and a news department of seven.</p><p>Brand hosted Swap Shop starting in 1971, expanding the show from 15 minutes to four hours on Saturdays as callers traded their wares.</p><p>"Anything from goats and chickens to grand pianos, paintings, cars — all sorts of stuff," said Mangan, who recalled that someone even tried to sell a traffic light that had fallen during a hurricane.</p><p>Following the station's transition from classic country to talk in October 2011, Brand hosted Swap Shop daily for two hours until his retirement in May. The show is still on as a four-hour Saturday program hosted by Ray Starr.</p><p>Brand was active in Elks Lodge #990. He is survived by his mother, Dorothy Brand, of Independence, Mo.; companion Sally Crews and her son, Byron Crews.</p>